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Speaker Placement - When it's perfect!

So many audiophiles have commented that when your room treatment is completed, your electronics set up and tweaked and most importantly, your speakers are set up in your listening space correctly that you'll know it because everything just sounds so "right" and natural.  I just accomplished that feat in the last two weeks.  I say two weeks because I needed to play a wide variety of recordings to be sure that I'm there.  It is so great to have finally hit just the right set up.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it has taken me well over a year of experimentation to get to this point.  It's not that other placements yielded poor quality sound its just that now everything sounds like a live event (as much as any of our systems can).

I would really appreciate hearing about your journey to the promised land of audiophile/music lover bliss.  How long did it take, what were the most difficult aspects of the journey?  And if you have yet to get there, what do  you think is the "brick in your wall"?
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dentdog's avatar
dentdog
506 posts
 
Took me about two years, main problem being bass cancellation from the front wall. Speakers have down firing subs, active and the distance from the front wall and side walls needed slight adjustments. The one note bass finally disappeared when traps on the rear wall and distances from the front and side were tweaked.
Also the tweeters needed taming, but I was relentless with tube rolling as the system is all tube components. It has all paid off and it’s been months since any changes were made. Honestly, the speakers were moved, sometimes fractions of an inch, at least a hundred times. Moved the listening position many times as well.
One thing I learned is that the sweet spot is the sweet spot. You can’t fool physics. Now, two people can sit on the couch and the effect off center is very tolerable, but no denying the sweet spot.
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agriculturist
177 posts
 
I'm sure you've seen this, but if not its very helpful.  Worked for me...
http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_main.php

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,098 posts
 
my listening room is a living room of sorts so i have a few constraints that preclude a lot of speaker related tweaks other than trying to stick to the “ hocus pocus” formula of the hard physics of node creation. My choice of speaker includes 11 bands of EQ below 120 HZ so getting that right, tweaking level and Q on the sub consumes a few hours...
i do have 5 dedicated circuits and some ground float cheaters and some isolation tweaks but overall the hours put in were not excessive...
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5 OP
1,832 posts
 
@dentdog Those fractions of an inch that you moved your speakers...I can relate to that. Actually that’s when I knew I was close. It was remarkable how much of a difference a fraction of an inch made especially as regards toe-in.

@kosst_amojan I bought those Walmart mattress pads too early on in my quest. An inexpensive way to experiment with room treatment!

@agriculturist I never used the Cardas info. from your link but I’m going to take a look at the different layouts to see if any fits my situation. (But I am NOT moving my speakers!)

@tomic601 Since your are not in a dedicated listening room, I imagine the EQ abilities and "Q" adjustments really helped you out.
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